Wire drawing apparatus



March 6, 1945. 4 w, MacD QNALD ET AL 2,370,806

WIRE DRAWING-APPARATUS Filed Dec. 15, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A F in #4 v I, 99

William macD zi l d Lawrence 'J.'U.7dod.s

March 6, 1945' w. H. MacDONALD ET AL 2,370,806

WIRE DRAWING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 15, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet z Lawrence J. woods Gttomeg Patented Mar. 6, 1945 UNITED v STATES.

PATENT OFFICE 2,370,806 wmE mta'wmG APPARATUS William H. MacDonald and Lawrence J. woods, Worcester, Mass.

Application December 15, 1943, Serial No. 514,382

p 1 claim? ,(01. 205-13) This invention relates to wire drawing apparatus, and more particularly to a machine having drawing drums arranged for drawing wire through a series'of dies for reducing the sizeof the wire.

' Standard wire drawing apparatus as heretofore used has comprised a series of dies of successively smaller gauge alternating with a set of drawing blocks or drums arranged to pull the wire through the dies. As the wire becomesreduced in diameter and consequently elongated, it must be moved at an increased speed by each successive block insuch a series. This has been accomplished by the use of stepped drums of increasing size or' by rotating each successive block the series at a faster rate. Another constructionha's comprised two axially parallel drawing blocks or drums of the same diameter arranged with a set of dies v therebetween to form a succession sof wire drawdrawing dies that could be used in such a machine for drawing the harder steels has been materially limited, and this has often required the use of two machines to obtain enough reduction in size.

The primary object of this'inventionis to overcome such problems'and to provide a wire drawing machine which serves to draw the wire in a single and complete operation to its flnal'size-and tospo'cl the wire directly for commercial purposes.

Another object is to provide a wire drawing and spooling machine wherein the spooling mechanism serves as a part of the wire drawing apparatus and holds the wire under a proper tension. A further object of this invention is to provide a high speed machine which will draw either hard or soft steel wires and reduce the same to a final and finished condition and which winds the flnished wire-on a spool for commercial purposes, and whereby the wire "drawing operation attains such perfection as not to require inspection and a subsequent separate spooling operation. Further objects'will be apparent in the followin disclosure.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate a -preferred embodiment of this invention:

45 Hence, all other drums must y wire, as well-as draw it forwar Consequently,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the machine, with parts omitted for the sake 'of clarity;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic showing of the arrangement of the wire drawing rolls, dies; spooling device;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the machine with parts broken away;

Fig. 4 is a vertical elevation on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, which shows the wire spoofing-mechanism; and

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of'Fig. 1.

In our wire drawing machine, the wire is drawn through a multiplicity of dies l0 by means of a pair of wire drawing drums I l and [2. The drums are cylindrical bodies of equal diameters and are driven at the same speeds. The wire I4 is drawn from a supply standard l5 suitably mounted for rotation at-the side of the machine, and the wire passes around the rolls and through the dies in a desired arrangement, such as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 2. The bores of the di'e'in the series are made progressively smaller so that the wire is gradually drawn to a smaller size and at the same time elongated. In the machine illustrated, no take-up is provided for the increasing length of wire, but the wire is coiled around the drawing drums one or more times after each pass through a die so that, because of the frictional gripping of the cylindrical drum on the wire coil,

the drum serves as a capstan for pulling the wire through the adjacent die. That is, in the operation of a capstan, if a coil of wire or rope around the capstan is held tight, then'it will be drawn forward at thespeed of the capstan; but if the coil is loosened, then there is slippage and the capstan cannot move the wire. In our machine,

each coil of wire. around the drum serves to hold tight the coil of wire immediately behindit in the series and thus causes the latter to-move the wire.

The wire in the last coil inthe seriesmoves at the highest speed because of its maximum elongation, and the speed of all of the drums has to be suflicient to move that last coil at full speed. through the I each portion of the drum, except at the last coil, slips within 'the'coil and yet holds the coil with that degree of tightness'which causes the preceding coil to do its work.

Heretofore; machines of this type have em:

ployed a special drawing block associated with a winding reel whichreceives a, loose coilof wire from the last drawing drum in the series. 'That 56 coiled wire must be removed periodicall thereafter spooled on a separate machine after a required inspection or other necessary operations.

The primary feature of this invention involves using a wire spooling device as the ultimate or final capstan which holds the wire taut for the drawing blocks and determines the speed of the wire through the dies. That is, the spooling device which automatically winds the finished wire serves as the capstan which holds under tension the coil of wire on the adjacent drawing drum, so that each coil on the drums holds the wire tight in the preceding coil. Because of this arrangement, the wire drawing operation is so accurate that either a soft or a hard wire may be drawn to its final size and spooled automatically in the same operation'and thus placed in condi-' tion for the commercial market.

The drawings show a preferred embodiment to take up all of the elongated wire as it is delivered by the last loop on the drawing drum l2 and at the same time spool the wire in coils of increasing diameter.

After the wire passes the straighteners 39 and the capstan 30, it goes around an idler pulley I! mounted to rotate on a vertical axis and thence around an idler 42 which leads the wire to an idler pulley 43 slidably mounted on the machine of this invention. Referring first to the wire drawing mechanism, the two cylindrical drums II and l2 of equal diameters are mounted on drive shafts I6 and I1 suitably supported in bearings on the walls of a tank IS. The dies III are usually individual disk shape bodies having a center portion of a hard material provided with a perforation of the required size. The dies areremovably held against a set of upwardly projecting fingers or lugs on a crosspiece I9 suitably l8 and H project beyond the right hand tank wall (Fig. l) and are driven by sprockets 20 and 2| of the same size connected by a. chain 22 which insures that'the drums rotate at the same peripheral speed. A pulley 24 fixed on the shaft I1 is suitably driven by a belt; and an idler pulley 25 and a belt shifting device 26 may be employed to start and stop the drawing drums when desired.

' A capstan or drum 30 is suitably mounted outside of the tank l8, and it has a guiding flange "located just below the horizontal line of travel of the wire ll from the top of the drum l2. This capstan 30 may have one or more 00115 of the framework 4. This pulley 43 is loosely mounted on a long shaft 45 suitably supported on the frame and may move axially as the wire is spooled. The wire then passes to a reciprocating thread guiding pulley 46 which lays the wire on the spool in a tightly coiled arrangement or a close packing.

To effect the required reciprocation of the thread guide pulley t6 the guide (Fig. 4) is rotatably mounted on a short shaft carried by the arms of a yoke 48. This yoke is in turn removably secured by a screw 49 between the yoke arms 50 of a vertical member 51 which is fixed by screws to a slide v.bar 52. This slide bar reciprocates horizontally through suitable slide bearings or openings in the standards 44 of the machine.

Reciprocation of the slide bar 52 andthe guide pulley 66 is effected by means of a heart-shaped cam rotatably mounted on a shaft 6| carried by suitable bearings supported by depending brackets 82 on the framework. The shaft ll carries a worm gear 63 which meshes with a. horizontal worm 64 on a shaft carried by the frame 44. The worm is drivenby a pulley 85 connected by a clutch 66 to the worm shaft. The pulley is in turn driven by a belt 61 receiving power from a pulley on the end of the shaft IT.

The cam roller III which rides on the face of the heart-shaped cam 60 issuitably mounted on the end of a rocking bell crank lever If pivoted at '12 on the base of the machine. A spring 13 holds the cam follower against the cam. The

vertical arm 1'4 of the lever H has a slot 15 within wire passed around it, so that it may serve to hold the wire tight .in the last coil around the drawing drum i2 and thus cause the drum l2 to function as a drawing block. The capstan 30 is preferably mounted on a vertical shaft 33 carried in suitable bearings 34 on the machine frame, and the lower end of this shaft carries a pulley 35 which is driven by a belt 36 that passes over Idlers 21 and a driving pulley 3B fixed on the shaft IO. The capstan 30 has an effective circumference equal to that of each of the drums H and I2, and the three are driven at the same peripheral rate.' The wire ll may be passed through suitable wire straightening rolls 29 and then coiled around the capstan 30, say, three times; after which it passes to the spoolin'g'mechand arranged that this spool holds the wire tight throughout the series of loops on the drums. The spool 40 is driven at the maximum raterequired which is adjustably positioned apivot pin 16 carrying one end of a link 11. The link has a'pi 0t pin 18 at its opposite end fitted in one of t holes 18 in the downwardly projecting end of the vertical bar 5i which is fixed on and reciprocates with the slide bar 52.

The adjustment of the position of the link serves for diflerent len ths of spools. Thus, as'the cam 68 revolves, it causes the rocking lever H to move the slide bar 82 and the guide pulley 16 back and forth at a rate determined by the shape of the cam; and that rate is substantially. uniform so that the wire will be coiled'on the spool in a close packing.

In accordance with this invention, the spool ll is driven at a rate which not only insures winding the elongated wire as fast as it is deliveredby the drawing drums but also holds that wire tight 7 on the capstan 30, which in turn holds the wire v tight for the drawing drums. It is not sufiicient merely to wind up the'wire as it isreceived; nor is the wire allowed to build up a loose coil as has been the practice heretofore. It is essential that the wire be held and wound under a longitudinal' tension which keeps it tight on all of the drums in theseries. This double function of spooling the wire and of holding the wire taut is accomplished by means of a spool driven by a friction clutch. The clutch drive illustrated in Figsrl and 5 comprises a pulley Cl driven by a belt cl and a second pulley 82 on the end of the worm shaft 64. The pulley sizes are such that the empty spool 40 will be revolved fast enough to hold the tight when.

framework. An L shaped screwy;

it first starts the winding operation, and the clutch will slip increasingly as the wire coil builds up. The pulley 80 is loosely mounted on a shaft 83 which is keyed to a clutch plate 84 having-a friction surface portion 85 frictionally engaging the side of the pulley 80.. A spring 86, held in place by a collar 81 adjustably threaded on the shaft 83, presses against the driving clutch plate 84 and holds theparts in frictional engagement. The shaft 83 is suitably mounted in-a bearing 88 formed as a part of the framework of the machine. The shaft 83 has a head 89 thereon which The spool is adjustably mounted in axial alignment with the shaft 83, and in order that difi'erent sizes of spools may be filled with wire we have provided a construction wherein a spool 40 of a given size may be removably mounted on a supporting shaft 90 which slidably fits within the central hollow sleeve portion 9| of the spool. The

shaft member 90 has a head 92 thereon and a projecting center 83 which fits within a central recess'in the plate 89 and thus aligns the spool with the driving shaft 83. The plate-92 carries a pin 94 projecting on both sides into slots in the plate 89 and the spool. This pin serves to lock the parts together so that the driving plate 89 'serves as a driving plate for rotating the spool 40.

will drive the shaft 90 and the spool mounted coil formed of one or several turns of wire.

Thence, the wire passes freely to and around the drum ll, and'again it is threaded through the next die Ill and again looped around the drum I zone or more times and so on,'until it has been passed through all of the dies to the last coil shown at the left hand end of Fig. 2 of the drawings. From this last coil on the cylindrical surface of the drum II, the -wire passes through the straightener 39 and around the capstan at least once, such as in three loops of wire. Thereafter, the wire passes over the various guiding pulleys to the, winding spool- 40. The leading end of the wire is suitably secured to the spool, or the operation may be started by the operator winding the wire on the rotating spool and catching it in place so as to provide sufllclent frictional grippage. The spool holds the wire tight for the capstan 30 and the latter tightens the last coil on drum l2; and each loop of wire on the drums serves as a capstan held tightby the next following loop of wire. Thus this succession of capstans or drawing blocks serves to pull the wire through all of the dies. No wire will be drawn until the spool is able to tighten up on the wire coming. from the capstan 30. The use of the intermediate capstan 30 makes it unnecessary for the spool to exert any as a bearing member 91 in the portion 98 of the having a set nut thereon is threaded into the framework 98 and engages the righthand end of the shaft 90 and thus servesto force the driving head 92 into engagement with the driving head 89 of the friction driven shaft 83.

. Thus supply spools to may be mounted on shaft members 90 away from the machine while the wire drawing proceeds. When a new spool is to be put into place, the machine is-stopped and the old spool is removed by loosening the L shaped screw -99 and lifting the right hand end of the shaft 9|! from its bearing slot and thus releasing the opposite end from driving connection with plate 19. Then the right hand end of a new shaft 90 is dropped into the slot of the open bearing 91 and the plate 92 is rotated to bring the pin 94 ,into a driving position. The screw 99 is thenytightened slightly so as to force the parts indriving engagement. If a difl'erent length of spool is to be used, then the collar 95 and locking nut 96 are adjusted accordingly, and at the same time the position of the link 11 (Fig. 4)

is adjusted to give the correct throw or reciprocation to the bar 52 and the guide pulley 46 so as to wind the wire along the entire length of the spool in a close packlng- The operation of the wiredrawing apparatus" hasbeen made clear in view of the above disclosure. The operator strings up his machine ac- -cording to the nature and size of the wire being each coil on. the drawing drums to secure the do distinguished from the loose formation of the wiremore tensional force than that merely required to keep the wire tight on the capstan. The spool does not have to draw the wire. In the above description, the term coil has been used to desi nate one or more turns of wire around the drum or capstan. It will also-be understood that the wire i wound onthe spool in a close packing as coil heretofore formed by lateral movement of the wire from a conical drawing 'drum.

. It will be appreciated that many modifications may be made in this construction and that various mechanical equivalents may be substituted for the constructions above described and ,illusby the spooling step will hold the wire taut ,on the' trated in the drawings. drawing apparatus may be employed, whether or not they involve take-ups for the elongating wire;

but it is an essential part of thi invention that the wire be held taut by meansof the ultimate spooling operation and that this tautness created various drawing blocks or drums which draw the wire, so that each part of the mechanism will operate while the wire is held taut by that spool ing device and will stop operating as soon as the wire is loosened at the spooling end.

Hence the above disclosure is to be interpreted as illustrating the principles of this invention and a preferred embodiment and not as imposing lhni tations'on the claim appended hereto.

We claim:

A wire drawing apparatus comprising two I cylindrical drawing blocks of equal diameter arranged with their-axes parallel and in a horizontal plane and a set of wire drawing die therebetween' having the wire strung alternately through each die, and .in a coil around a block, a

tank within whidh said block and dies are mounted, a capstan outside of the tank and receiving the wire from the druma power mechanism-for rotating the blocks and capstan at the, same peripheral rate, a framework outside of the tank; desired traction. The number Ofdi'es is limited 'llbe'arings onthe framework, a horizontal two-part. L

Various types of wire shaft supported by the bearings, a winding spool parts being so constructed that the spool may be replaced without disturbing the friction drive, and 4 means including a reciprocable guide, a driven cam and a variable throw connectionbetween the cam and guide for laying wire on difierent lengths of spool.

. i H. MACDONALD.

I LAWRENCE J. WOODS. 

